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WILKES-BARRE - The psychological disorders polluting mass murderer George Banks' thoughts with hallucinations, delusions and a firm belief that God, Jesus or George W. Bush overturned his death sentence have rendered him incompetent to be executed, a Luzerne County Judge declared Wednesday.

Judge Joseph M. Augello also ruled Banks, 67, incompetent to assist his attorneys in petitioning the state Board of Probation and Parole and the state Board of Pardons for clemency and that his execution would violate the state constitution and the U.S. Constitution.

Banks has been on and off death row since he was convicted in June 1983 on 12 counts of first-degree murder and a single count of third-degree murder for a September 1982 shooting spree in Wilkes-Barre and Jenkins Twp. that left 13 people, including five of his children, dead.

He will continue to live alone in a restricted housing unit at the State Correctional Institution at Graterford, Montgomery County, for the rest of his life, pending a final ruling by the state Supreme Court.

Under state law, the state Supreme Court has the right to accept Judge Augello's opinion or issue its own ruling based on transcripts of the hearing and versions of experts' reports that have been edited to exclude references to the 2006 and 2008 hearings.

"The evidence we presented was really overwhelming to establish that Banks' mental condition has degraded significantly since 1982," Banks' attorney, Al Flora Jr., said. "This is a man who is so severely mentally ill that he doesn't have a rational understanding of why he's sentenced to death. He doesn't have a rational understanding of the implications of the death penalty."

Despite his delusions, Banks has expressed a willingness to die, according to psychological experts who examined him in advance of a competency hearing last month.

One defense expert said Banks equated death with freedom, saying it would lift him from the bounds of prison and the monotony of death row and return his soul "to Jesus" and "the Lord."

Banks made a similar declaration to a prosecution expert, Dr. Stephen Mechanick: "If they give me the death penalty, that's good for me because I go back to the Lord. It's better than rotting in a cell. We've all got to die some day."

Prosecutors argued Banks' acknowledgement of his potential execution and his willingness to die were evidence of clearer, more rational thought than the delusional patterns of behavior that led a Luzerne County judge to declare him incompetent to be executed twice within the last five years.

Luzerne County District Attorney Jackie Musto Carroll said she was "disappointed" with Judge Augello's ruling and expected prosecutors to appeal.

"Certainly the prosecution felt there was enough evidence to establish his competency," Ms. Musto Caroll said.

Banks has been on death row since June 1983 - steadily deteriorating mentally and physically.

He has withered through hunger strikes inspired by the wild beliefs of his widely diagnosed psychotic disorder and the scars of a skin disease he blamed on a "flesh-eating demon" and poisoned food.

Banks has claimed the toll of his shooting spree was exaggerated by police and that his incarceration was designed to force him to renounce his religious beliefs, which have been cemented in habitual reading of the Bible and periodic quotation of Scripture - both in rambling conversation and written on the scrolls of toilet paper that decorate his cell.

"If the state Supreme Court accepts Judge Augello's recommendation, then that will pretty much put it to rest," Mr. Flora said. "If the state Supreme Court does not accept his recommendation and finds Banks is competent, then you're looking at a new round of appeals in the federal system."

Contact the writer: msisak@citizensvoice.com

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33 posted comments

JCB, here is the problem with no appeals, and mind you, I am for the death penalty. But here is the problem, far too many people have been executed who DID not commit the crime. Now I am not saying Banks didn't do what he was found guilty of, he was caught dead to rights. Think about that. Would you seriously want to live in a country where they could just execute a person without giving that person a right to fight their case or appeal a verdict? I know I wouldn't. There is a program that goes over death penalty cases, and because of this program, quite a few lives were saved when DNA was used to prove they didn't commit the crime in which they were sentenced to death.The other issue at hand is mental capacity. Now would you also want to live in a country, that picks off mentally incompetent people one by one who really have no knowledge of their crime, no knowledge that is of the consequences of their actions. No I agree Banks had to of been mentally unstable to kill all those people, but because he has been one death row, for sooooo many years, now he is extremely mentally ill. People seem to think he was in there living the life at the expense of the taxpayers. A sentence of death is not a picnic. He has basically been isolated for more than 25 years now, That would cause even the most sane person to go insane, quickly. People who make comments about the life of a prisoner on death row, obviously have no knowledge of the life they are condemned to. People will always make judgments about things in which they really have no knowledge about, but when you are talking about taking another human beings life, you better know what you are talking about. Listen, you want criminals off the streets, than you are going to have to pay the taxes to do so. You want to take another persons life, than you are going to have to pay the taxes to do so, and yes, it is expensive. It has been far worse punishment on him to sit him in prison all these years on death row, than it would have been to put him to death as soon as he was found guilty. Think about it really. Once again, I am for the death penalty, but I am NOT for a country who would just put a person to death without a proper appeals process. There is a reason why even the convicted still have rights, not many, but a few. The reason is first of all, whether you like it or not, they ARE human, and second of all, what if they aren't guilty. Not every person in prison in America is guilty, it may not be a huge percentage, but even one person is too many. You may be fine with killing off a few innocent people, but that would make you just as evil as the murderers you want to put to death. This isn't just about George Banks, it is about the death penalty as a whole and how it is administered. Remember, George Banks is NOT the one who keeps filing these appeals, it is the prosecutors, the people you pay to protect you. Trust me, they will appeal this again..... The question really is, how many times do you want the prosecutors to keep appealing? Obviously, over and over, it has been ruled that this man is incompetent.

Why is he still alive? Shouldn't he have be put to death 20 years ago? Bring back public executions and maybe these types of crimes will stop. Instead all the lawyers make money, the newpapers make money, the judges make money. And we are the idiots that keep paying. Where's the justice in that? I guess crime DOES pay. It's just at the expense of the already burdened tax payer.

Robyn: I agree with you on no appeals: they should be executed 30 days from sentencing. It costs nearly 100K to house, feed, cloth, etc a prisoner per year. We wouldn't need half the prisons we have if we stuck to the death penalty. If your don't want to be executed then do not repeatedly commit violent, heinous crimes. How would you feel if this guy or someone else murdered or raped a member of your family? I have a feeling that your opinion would change.

This mass murderer is costing the tax payers millions because the DA can't seem to accept that he is too ill to be executed. STOP FILING APPEALS.It doesn't cost much to feed this guy. It costs millions to litigate and relitigate this case. I would love to see the bill to the county for all of these appeals. This is why the death penalty should be repealed. It is outrageously expensive, not to mention cruel when you are talking about someone who is too mentally ill to understand.

Mentally incompotent? Why not just give him a job in Luzerne County, he'll fit right in. I can't get over the fact that he killed all those people yet he has rights and can't pay for his crime? Instead let's just have the tax payers support him. Who's having the last here? This guy of course.

OK, since when is living in solitary confinement for a really long time "getting-away-with-it"? It seems to me that this man is in hell right now partly because of his incarceration and his mental illness. If he really believes he is being munched on by a demon it sounds like he is getting equitable punishment. Death under these circumstances sounds like letting him off. Let the monsters in his head torment him a while longer until nature takes its course.

In the 70's, 21 of us were selected to infiltrate a south asian country, at high risk, and obtain certain information from the locals. We had a staging in San Francisco, at which a Navy psychiatrist asked us what we considered to be bizarre questions (Do you prefer pork or steak? Do you prefer digging a ditch to answering a phone?, etc.)

After each session, we would all go down to Market Street, drink a few beers, and laugh at that dumb psychiatrist.

I completed the mission, along with 6 others. 14 washed out early on. I later spoke to the commander, who told me that psychiatrist predicted ALL 14 WASHOUTS, at the first staging.

The law treats insane and competent defendants differently. These posters don't seem to disagree with that precept, but question whether the defendant is truly incompetent. I submit that is a job for someone professionally trained. I didn't pick out the 2/3 of my squadron, but she did...perfectly.

I totally agree with sauld1. When law enforcement had this worthless piece of garbage dead to rights, literally holding the smoking gun(s), they should have empties all their weapons and we wouldn't be talking about this now. I don't remenber the details of his capture, but surrender shout NOT have been an option. I doub there would have been much repercussion if he had been exucuted like his victims.

The only imcompetence here is allowing a mass murder to cost the taxpayers MILLIONS of dollars. He should have been gassed twenty five years ago. I am sorry but this man's life is not worth anything and he continues to be a burden to the people who have to support his incarceration.

It is safe to say he was incompetent, when he went on his killing spree & was sentenced to DEATH...what has changed? This SCUM should have been dead years ago. Lets just get on with it. Maybe if they sell tickets to watch his execution, we can get back SOME of the money the tax payers have WASTED on him...I know I would buy one!

I personally know correction officers that know this man from caring for him in prison and they say that he is an intellegent person and is using the system to the extreme. Not only is he a good murder, but he is also a good actor. The Justice system is being made a rag of.

Let me get this straight: He has the mental capacity to recognize the arcane nuances of the law as well as the dictates and dogma of a major world religion, yet he doesn't have a "rational understanding of the implications of the death penalty", according to his legal lobbyist, Al Flora.If, attorney Flora, you are defending your client relentlessly, you are doing your job. If you are using your client's alleged mental capacity to advance your personal aversion to the death penalty? As certainly as you are filth, you may need to be disbarred.